Page 27 of Third Time is the Charm
Beth looked over her shoulder at the clock; it was almost twelve-thirty. Jane needed to go to bed and it was a pretty safe bet that Darcy had made it up to his room by now that the coast would be clear.
“Ok, I’m going to go; you need to get some rest before tomorrow,” she said, hugging her sister.
“Ok. I’m sorry, Beth.”
“I told you, there’s nothing to be sorry for,” she said giving Jane a reassuring smile.
“Ok, I’ll see you in the morning. Hair and makeup starts at eleven in here,” Jane reminded her.
“I will be there. Goodnight, Jane. Love you,” Beth replied, heading toward the door.
“Night, love you.”
Beth shut the door quietly behind her, knowing that her mother could hear drama from a mile away, which meant that she would definitely hear doors opening and closing just a few feet down from her room.
She tried to walk as quietly as she could down the hallway, figuring that most of her family was sound asleep by now in preparation for the big day tomorrow. Her feet picked up their pace as she got closer to her room, trying to make it back without running into anyone –or anyone in particular.
After all this time, she should just assume that she wouldalwayshave the worst luck when it comes to Darcy.
She rounded the last corner of the hallway with a glance over her shoulder to make sure that no one was behind her – for no reason, especially since it caused her to run straight into the hard chest of the specific man whom she was running from.
Beth grunted as her hands came up out of instinct to rest on the hot wall of male that she was pressed up against. Surprisingly, she felt no urgency, no further instinct to extricate herself from him, even though she’d just been talking with Jane about how much he had hurt her. Her eyes closed for a split second, just breathing in the moment; she would hate her body later for craving the familiar fire of his embrace.
With a sigh, she looked up to meet his gaze, finding those molten chocolate eyes that she’d lost herself in staring back at her.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” he said hoarsely with a smirk.
Beth couldn’t help herself, she started to giggle. Not just because he –Darcy, of all people – had made a joke, but mostly because the ridiculousness of this situation had finally broken the dam of emotions within her; hurt, pain, anxiety, confusion, humor, comfort, love – they all came bursting out, first in a giggle that just escalated into full-blown laughter.
Her fingers curled into his shirt as she ducked her head, the laughs coming uncontrollably from inside of her. All day, she’d tried her best to stay away from one singular person.All day.What are the chances that walking back to her room at almost one in the morning would put him directly in her path? She laughed, not caring that Darcy was looking at her with an expression mixed with confusion and the desire to join in. At the point where she felt tears collecting in her eyes, she felt his chest rumble a few times against hers.
“Beth, are you ok?” he finally asked.
At first, all she could do was nod, trying to calm the humor that was wracking her body. As the laughter finally died down, she managed to say, “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry.” The apology bringing another chuckle out of her.
This was ridiculous.
Her gaze met his again, and she bit her lip trying to forcibly stop the shudders going through her body. His eyebrows raised at her, questioning the validity of her statement. Whether it was the wine, the time, or the emotional stress of the day, Beth wasn’t sure, but it was that moment when she truly realized where she was – in the hallway, alone with Darcy; her body pressed flush up against his, his hands a firm presence on her waist, initially to steady her, now… Every breath she took, she felt her sensitive breasts gently rubbing against his chest, and that familiar urgent ache between her thighs only overshadowed by the hard pressure of his erection pressing against her.
She sucked in a breath, feeling like the air in the room was disappearing. His eyes flared, and she knew that breathing had been a mistake. Beth watched in slow, yet inevitable motion as his head dropped, his lips touching hers. The first contact was surprisingly gentle, his lips softly pressing against hers, almost as if he were waiting for her to pull back. In that moment, she wanted to forget everything that had happened; she wanted to forget everything that would happen after this moment. In that moment, all she wanted was to feel him.
All she wanted was to know that she could feel again.
Her hands gripped his pressed shirt harder, pulling him against her as her mouth parted, her tongue tracing the line of his lips. Whatever restraint he’d been practicing vanished with her provocation. His mouth opened and devoured her, tasting every recess of her mouth like it was the first time.
They kissed like they’d been trapped in the desert the past four months and were now just given their first drink of spring water.
The dormant fire of desire erupted inside of her, burning through her veins into every cell of her body.
This is what she wanted to feel.
She returned his fire; her fingers coming up threading themselves through his hair, pressing him even closer to her. His arms moved further, locking around her back, ensuring that there was no part of their bodies that weren’t touching. Beth moaned into his mouth, the ache inside of her begging him to ease it. She felt the hardness of his erection crushed into her stomach, craving the same release that she was. Their tongues dueled, each trying to pull more from the kiss that they’d been starved of for so long.
For once in the past however many months, her mind was blissfully blank, absorbed completely in the pleasure of his kiss, the magic of his embrace. She melted completely against him, her body ironically finally feeling like it could lean on someone else for support. Her desire for him, peacefully sedated inside her in Boston, had been shocked back to life by his presence, flaring even stronger than before, if that was possible.
Beth felt her body completely relax against him, against the familiar fire that was consuming her. She moaned again with the relief of knowing that she was home.
He was home.
